# Private Pilot Abilene | Attributes | | | --------------- | ---------------------------------- | | Name | Pilot Abilene | | Alter Egos | - | | 2005 Draft Name | Paul Pilot | | Age | 23 | | Actor | Justin Timberlake | | Profession | Movie Star, Soldier, Drug Smuggler | | Affiliations | [[Military Veterans]] | Narrator. Addict. Born in Abilene, Texas. Fought in Iraq alongside [[Roland]], where during a training exercise in Fallujah involving [[Simon]] and [[Baron]] testing [[Fluid Karma]] on them and was disfigured after [[Roland]] threw a grenade too close, leaving him with a huge scar on his face. # Cannes Cut Pilot's narration is is quite different from the theatrical release. He quotes from the bible less. His line delivery is more subdued. # 2005 Draft Paul was a pop star rather than an actor. In the filmed versions, everyone was turned into actors. # Issues Pilot just isn't a very likable character. Kind of a sociopath. In the [[Prequel Saga]] he had killed at least five people in Iraq just to prove how tough he was. This strains the idea that he could be friends with Roland, who despite being a cop and son of a mayor seems like he has a heart. # Background I suspect he took his last name name from his hometown for his Screen Actors Guild name. It seems likely that his birth name is still Paul. ## Biblical Connections From his attire, wearing a white shirt covered in blood, some have connected this to the "Rider on a White Horse" from Revelation 19:11-14. The rider is said to be "The Word of God", which fits quite nicely as a narrator. Some believe this biblical character to be Christ, although this is clearly not the case in Southland Tales which already has a few other messiahs laying around. # IRL ## Name The name "Pilot" almost certainly refers to the historical Pontius Pilate, the governor of Roman Judaea. According to the Bible and Tacitus, Pilate was the official responsible for ordering the execution of Jesus. The draft name "Paul" also refers to Apostle Paul AKA Saul of Tarsus. A famous dual identity in the New Testament. ## Narration [[Richard Kelly]] asked Timberlake to do the narration *on set* on the one day they had filming with him, right after the Killer's musical number was filmed. After the Cannes disaster, Timberlake was brought back to re-record the narration with some changes. At the point that they finished filming the Killer's musical portion, they didn't even have the rights to the song.[^1] # References [^1]: [[Southland Tales - Bibliography#AVClub Interview]]